For two decades, the International Human Rights Law Clinic has trained more than 300 Berkeley Law students, instilling valuable—and versatile—legal skills. Five alums describe how the clinic provided experience that continues to serve them well in their diverse range of positions.
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS
Sarah Singh ’10
Global Communities Director, Accountability Counsel, San Francisco
“My year with the clinic helped prepare me for the many emotional and ethical challenges of working closely with vulnerable community members around the world who have experienced human rights abuses and environmental devastation. That time helped me develop the constant awareness of and sensitivity to the traumatic context at play in many of my cases, which informs my decisions about case strategy and how to approach tasks such as factual investigations, advocacy, and communications.”
DOMESTIC SOCIAL JUSTICE
Anne Mahle ’01
Senior Vice President (Public Partnerships), Teach for America, Minneapolis
“My time at the clinic continues to inform my daily work. This stems from two key elements of that experience: direct client engagement, and exposure to systems-level thinking and change. Working directly with asylum seekers and survivors of torture who sought justice and accountability through the U.S. civil court system brought us in closer proximity to the injustices we sought to change. That proximity is essential to building deep understanding, empathy, and creative problem solving.”
BIG LAW
Brian Cochran ’12
Associate, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, Chicago and San Diego
“I worked with a local advocacy organization to develop and file a complaint on behalf of indigenous Mexican villagers alleging human rights and environmental harms related to an international energy project. The novel complaint achieved a first-of-its-kind project suspension. Case investigation, claim development, blazing new trails … I now bring skills sharpened at the clinic to work every day as I endeavor to hold corporate wrongdoers accountable on behalf of injured investors and consumers.”
SMALL FIRM
DeCarol Davis ’17
Associate, Bryan Schwartz Law, Oakland
“My knowledge of international law was limited and my future work was likely to revolve around domestic employment issues, but something about the spirit of the IHRLC—its professors, the rigor, the study of more widespread oppression—led me to it. It was one of the best decisions I ever made in law school. Not only did the clinic teach me the doctrine, structures, and legal strategies pertaining to international law, it taught me how to be an advocate—not an adversary—and made me a smarter, more critical, and empathetic attorney.”
ACADEMIA
Kathleen Kelly Janus ’02
Author and Lecturer, Stanford University
“The International Human Rights Law Clinic provided such critical training for me to put what I was learning in the classroom to work in a real-world context. It gave me skills like how to research, how to advocate, and how to interact with clients, preparing me for a career as a lawyer. I was so inspired by my experience of receiving on-the-job training in the clinic seminar that I now use this form of teaching in my own social entrepreneurship class at Stanford!”